260 



DAIRY FARMING 



as large a business as many more acres of poor soil. If milk 

 is sold at retail, a smaller area and smaller number of cows 

 may represent an equally large business. But even when milk 

 is sold at retail, it is very desirable to have 15 to 30 cows. 



How important a reasonable area of land is to a dairy 

 farmer is shown by the results from 1988 farms in New York 

 as given in Table 33. 



TABLE 33. RELATION OF SIZE OF FARM TO LABOR INCOME. 1988 

 FARMS, TOMPKINS, LIVINGSTON, AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES, 

 NEW YORK 



These farms are fairly typical of many of the dairy farms 

 from Dakota to New England. About half the farm is 

 devoted to hay, corn, small grain, and other farm crops. 

 The other half is pasture, or woods and waste land. The 

 farms of less than 100 acres are on the average not paying 

 the owner more than interest and hired man's wages. There 

 are of course some small farms that pay well, but, as a rule, 

 the larger farms pay better. Similar results have been ob- 

 tained in many other states. 



224. Relation of Size of Farm to Efficiency in the Use of 

 Labor. In every region where such studies have been made 

 the small farms accomplish much less per man than do the 



